spin
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Spin
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English spinnen, from Old English spinnan, from Proto-Germanic *spinnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)penh₁-. Compare Low German spinnen, Dutch spinnen, German spinnen, Danish spinde, Swedish spinna.
Verb
spin (third-person singular simple present spins, present participle spinning, simple past spun or (uncommon) span or (nonstandard) spinned, past participle spun or (nonstandard) spinned)
- (ergative) To rotate, revolve, gyrate (usually quickly); to partially or completely rotate to face another direction.
- I spun myself around a few times.
- Spin the ball on the floor.
- She spun around and gave him a big smile.
- (aviation, of an aircraft) To enter, or remain in, a spin (abnormal stalled flight mode).
- (aviation, of a pilot) To cause one's aircraft to enter or remain in a spin (abnormal stalled flight mode).
- 1855, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Hiawatha’s Fasting”, in The Song of Hiawatha, Boston: Ticknor and Fields, page 76:
- Round about him spun the landscape, / Sky and forest reeled together, / And his strong heart leaped within him, / As the sturgeon leaps and struggles / In a net to break its meshes.
- (transitive) To make yarn by twisting and winding fibers together.
- They spin the cotton into thread.
- 1718, Matthew Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World”, in Poems on Several Occasions, volume II, Dublin: George Grierson, published 1738, book I, page 115:
- Along the Sunny Bank, or Wat’ry Mead, / Ten thouſand Stalks their various Bloſſoms ſpread : / Peaceful and lowly in their native Soil, / They neither know to ſpin, nor care to toil ; / Yet with confeſs’d Magnificence deride / Our vile Attire, and Impotence of Pride.
- (figurative) To present, describe, or interpret, or to introduce a bias or slant, so as to give something a favorable or advantageous appearance.
- 1643, John Milton, Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce:
- But because he is but briefe, and these things of great consequence not to be kept obscure, I shall conceave it nothing above my duty either for the difficulty or the censure that may passe thereon, to communicate such thoughts as I also have had, and do offer them now in this generall labour of reformation, to the candid view both of Church and Magistrate; especially because I see it the hope of good men, that those irregular and unspirituall Courts have spun their utmost date in this Land; and some beter course must now be constituted.
- 2006 February 9, “The Politics of Science”, in The Washington Post, page A22:
- In every administration there will be spokesmen and public affairs officers who try to spin the news to make the president look good. But this administration is trying to spin scientific data and muzzle scientists toward that end.
- 2021 July 31, Lisa Lerer, Nicholas Fandos, “Already Distorting Jan. 6, G.O.P. Now Concocts Entire Counternarrative”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
- This past week […] Republicans completed their journey through the looking-glass, spinning a new counternarrative of that deadly day.
- (cricket, of a bowler) To make the ball move sideways when it bounces on the pitch.
- (cricket, of a ball) To move sideways when bouncing.
- (cooking) To form into thin strips or ribbons, as with sugar
- To form (a web, a cocoon, silk, etc.) from threads produced by the extrusion of a viscid, transparent liquid, which hardens on coming into contact with the air; said of the spider, the silkworm, etc.
- To shape, as malleable sheet metal, into a hollow form, by bending or buckling it by pressing against it with a smooth hand tool or roller while the metal revolves, as in a lathe.
- To move swiftly.
- to spin along the road in a carriage, on a bicycle, etc.
- To stream or issue in a thread or a small current or jet.
- Blood spins from a vein.
- 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 86, column 1:
- Mount them, and make inciſion in their Hides, / That their hot blood may ſpin in Engliſh eyes, / And doubt them with ſuperfluous courage : ha.
- (computing, programming, intransitive) To wait in a loop until some condition becomes true.
- (transitive, informal) To play (vinyl records, etc.) as a disc jockey.
- 2002, CMJ New Music Report, volume 70, number 12:
- However, for the past six years he has been spinning his novel blend of progressive house and trance music and is finally on the brink of becoming the next luminary DJ.
- (cycling, intransitive)
- To use an exercise bicycle, especially as part of a gym class.
- To ride a bicycle at a fast cadence.
- (UK, law enforcement, slang, transitive) To search rapidly.
- 2013, Nick Oldham, Psycho Alley:
- But then again, unless someone struck lucky in those first few hours, there weren't even enough detectives to spin a drum [house].
- (transitive) To draw out tediously; prolong.
- Synonym: spin out
- to spin a yarn
- (fishing) To fish with a swivel or spoonbait.
- (archaic, transitive, slang) To reject at an examination; to fail (a student).
Hypernyms
Derived terms
Terms derived from spin (verb)
Related terms
Translations
to turn around quickly
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to make yarn
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to present a bias
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to make ball move sideways
to move sideways when bouncing
of spider, silkworm etc: to form from thread
to shape, as malleable sheet metal, into a hollow form, as in lathe
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to twist hay into ropes for convenient carriage
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
|
See also
Noun
spin (countable and uncountable, plural spins)
- Rapid circular motion.
- The car went into a spin.
- The skaters demonstrated their spins.
- He put some spin on the cue ball.
- A state of confusion or disorientation.
- My mind was in a spin.
- (quantum mechanics) A quantum angular momentum associated with subatomic particles, which also creates a magnetic moment.
- A novel, creative variation of an existing thing or type; a twist.
- 1991 August 10, Michael Bronski, “'I Know You Are, But What Am I?'”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 4, page 1:
- The media has been having a field day not only with the usual tired homophobic innuendos (which one has come to expect) but with new spins on queer bashing that might even seem inventive if they were not so hateful.
- (countable, uncountable) A favourable comment or interpretation intended to bias opinion on an otherwise unpleasant situation.
- Coordinate terms: coloration, distortion, propaganda
- Try to put a positive spin on the disappointing sales figures.
- The politician was mocked in the press for his reliance on spin rather than facts.
- 2022 January 26, Paul Stephen, “Network News: Government's IRP claims condemned as "dishonest"”, in RAIL, number 949, page 7:
- He added: "We've always had spin, especially from Government. But this is not spin. This is dishonesty and so it's our rail media's urgent responsibility to call it out because non-specialist journalists across the country will report this and gradually these untruths will be accepted.
- (sports) Rotation of the ball as it flies through the air; sideways movement of the ball as it bounces.
- Synonym: (informal) swazz
- (aviation) A condition of flight where a stalled aircraft is simultaneously pitching, yawing, and rolling in a spinning motion.
- (mechanical engineering) An abnormal condition in journal bearings where the bearing seizes to the rotating shaft and rotates inside the journal, destroying both the shaft and the journal.
- A brief trip by vehicle, especially one made for pleasure.
- I'm off out for a spin in my new sports car.
- 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:
- Time is running out, so I renounce a spin on a Class 387 for a fast run to Paddington on another Class 800 - a shame as the weather was perfect for pictures. Even so, it's enjoyable - boy, can those trains shift under the wires.
- A bundle of spun material; a mass of strands and filaments.
- 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 1, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:
- She left him alone, and went to get Annie a spin of toffee.
- A single play of a record; especially, one broadcast by a radio station.
- Let's give this classic LP another spin.
- 1996, Billboard, volume 108, number 12, page 37:
- Although the Loveless title showed the smallest increase in airplay in the top 10, its number of detections outpaced the nearest bulleted title by more than 350 spins.
- (UK, prison slang) A search of a prisoner's cell for forbidden articles.
- 2002, Jeffrey Archer, A Prison Diary:
- Mr Weedon explains that this is a cell search - known by prisoners as a spin - and for obvious reasons it has to be carried out without any warning.
- (dated) An unmarried woman; a spinster.
- 1893, Bithia Mary Croker, "To Let" in "To Let" etc., Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1906, p. 1,
- Some years ago, when I was a slim young spin, I came out to India to live with my brother Tom […]
- 1893, Bithia Mary Croker, "To Let" in "To Let" etc., Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1906, p. 1,
- (uncountable) The use of an exercise bicycle, especially as part of a gym class.
Derived terms
Terms derived from spin (noun)
- backspin
- barspin
- Biellmann spin
- camel spin
- despin
- electron spin resonance
- finger spin
- flat spin
- free spin
- in a flat spin
- in a spin
- inverted spin
- isobaric spin
- isotopic spin
- I-spin
- Jackson Haines spin
- layback spin
- leg spin
- media spin
- off spin
- on the spin
- orthodox spin
- parallel spin
- quantum spin liquid
- quantum unit of spin
- sidespin
- sit spin
- spin bath
- spin bike
- spin button
- spin chain
- spin class
- spin control
- spin-density wave
- spin doctor
- spin-doctored
- spin doctoring
- spin-dried
- spin-dry
- spin dryer
- spin fishing
- spin foam
- spin glass
- spin Hall effect
- spin ice
- spin label
- spin-lattice relaxation time
- spin machine
- spin magnetic moment
- spin merchant
- spin network
- spin-off
- spin-o-rama
- spin polarization
- spin-polarized
- spin quantum number
- spin room
- spin-spin energy
- spin-spin relaxation time
- spin-top
- spin trap
- spin trapping
- spin-up
- spin wave
- tailspin
- take for a spin
- topspin
- upright spin
- with the spin
- wrist spin
Translations
circular motion
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physics: quantum angular momentum
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favourable comment or interpretation
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rotation of a ball in motion
flight condition
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
|
Etymology 2
Noun
spin (plural spins)
- (nautical) Clipping of spinnaker.
- 2021 22 April, “jdale” (username), Course for Catastrophe, chapter 4:
- “Frank!” Joe yelled. “Run the spin halyard to the cabin-top winch and pass me the free end!”
- 2021 22 April, “jdale” (username), Course for Catastrophe, chapter 4:
Etymology 3
Alternative forms
- SpIn
Noun
spin (plural spins)
- (autism, slang) A special interest of an autistic person.
- Synonym: spinterest
- 2024 April 15, @XxKilla_KrisxX, Twitter:
- berdly if your friends were homestuck characters who would they be. //sorry autism wants me dead, berdlys my fav character and hs is my spin. you will never heard the end of it from me
Anagrams
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle Dutch spinne.
Noun
spin f (plural spinnen, diminutive spinnetje n)
Derived terms
- holenspin
- kruisspin
- mijnspin
- renspin
- spinnekop
- spinnendoder
- spinnenweb
- vogelspin
- wolfsspin
Etymology 2
Noun
spin m (plural spins)
Derived terms
- kernspin
Etymology 3
Noun
spin m (uncountable)
Derived terms
Etymology 4
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
spin
- inflection of spinnen:
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
Noun
spin n (genitive singular spins, uncountable)
Declension
| Declension of spin (singular only) | ||
|---|---|---|
| n3s | singular | |
| indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | spin | spinið |
| accusative | spin | spinið |
| dative | spini | spininum |
| genitive | spins | spinsins |
Synonyms
Anagrams
- nisp
- pins
Alternative forms
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
spin
Declension
| Inflection of spin (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | spin | spinit | |
| genitive | spinin | spinien | |
| partitive | spiniä | spinejä | |
| illative | spiniin | spineihin | |
| singular | plural | ||
| nominative | spin | spinit | |
| accusative | nom. | spin | spinit |
| gen. | spinin | ||
| genitive | spinin | spinien | |
| partitive | spiniä | spinejä | |
| inessive | spinissä | spineissä | |
| elative | spinistä | spineistä | |
| illative | spiniin | spineihin | |
| adessive | spinillä | spineillä | |
| ablative | spiniltä | spineiltä | |
| allative | spinille | spineille | |
| essive | spininä | spineinä | |
| translative | spiniksi | spineiksi | |
| abessive | spinittä | spineittä | |
| instructive | — | spinein | |
| comitative | See the possessive forms below. | ||
| Possessive forms of spin (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Derived terms
compounds
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
spin m (plural spins)
Derived terms
Further reading
- “spin”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Etymology
Noun
spin m (plural spins)
- thorn bush
Related terms
Etymology
Noun
spin
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